The Entry in Which I Get My Life Back

Thursday

We moved today.
Yesterday was Alexandre’s last day in the military.

I spent the days before the move doing most of the packing, since Alexandre still had to work. Gatinha was a helpful assistant.

By “helpful,” I mean “often getting in the way because of her fascination with suitcases and boxes and being inside things but with a cute face that prevents anyone from getting annoyed with her.”

Thursday morning (today, though it feels like so long ago), we woke up very early to finish getting things ready for the movers. Then I walked up and down the 3 flights of stairs of our building, maybe 30 times or more, carrying the lighter boxes to help speed things along. Eventually, all the loading into the moving truck was done, and we said goodbye and good riddance to the crappy beach town.

Gatinha's hot pink cat carrier. Alexandre was not pleased when I came home with it. heheh

The new building has an elevator, so the move into the new apartment was significantly quicker. To be lazy and avoid helping with the move into the new place, I left to pick up some sandwiches from a restaurant nearby for me, Alexandre, and the movers, and once the guys left, Alexandre and I ate on desk chairs on the balcony, since we don’t have a dining room table yet. We enjoyed the smell of cookies and rain and mato and newness and we enjoyed the precious silence. Gatinha was spooked and hid in the closet, but I was finally safe and calm and at peace.

After much-needed showers in our gorgeous, white-tiled bathroom with the shower door made of glass, we went to copy keys at a super fancy mall. I spent a better part of the day negotiating over the phone with the boss of the English “school” I interviewed at. (Remember it’s not exactly a school, more like a broker between students and private teachers.) He has a few students that he’s trying to set me up with, and we were working out the details. One accepted all the terms, and I meet her tomorrow! My first student in our new city. :) Let’s hope the others get on board, too.

Alexandre and I also went to a great store like Sam’s Club that requires a membership and everything. We bought few things that we needed and lots of treats that we didn’t. We bought wine to celebrate but fell asleep before we could drink it. Moving is tiring.

My new bedroom is like a cave. It’s cool and small and dark. Last night was nice and chilly.  The cat curled up between us and we slept under a comforter. The rain pattered against the windows and it was the only sound around. Though the cat is still on Alexandre’s military time (get it? Military time? har har) and woke us up by crying for food at 6:30am on the dot, it was still the best night of sleep I’ve had in recent memory.

Friday

Today I had my first student from the school and a meeting with the boss guy at his office. Both went smoothly. The city is big but so gloriously organized. Every street I needed had a sign, which, as those of you living in Brazil know, is a rare gem in this country. The GPS worked flawlessly and the other drivers were civilized. The buses have their own lanes and no one almost killed me and I didn’t yell at a single passing car. This place is another world.

This city is richer, there’s a strong middle class, and in general, people are more educated. That means the employees at the supermarket and the lady selling the city bus cards could actually carry out proper, helpful conversations about the services they offered. It means sushi is reasonably priced. I think these factors may also explain the relative quality of the roads and transit. (Did I mention all the useful signs?)

I made a professional Facebook profile, and a guy studying at the local university already found me and asked for classes. He and a friend are coming to the apartment on Tuesday to meet me (and Alexandre, who will stay home to make sure they’re not weirdos) and hopefully sign contracts.

We drove to the in-laws’ house for dinner, because it’s close by and we could.

And now I’m back to being alive again, and the year of living in a dingy apartment under a dirty raincloud is finally over. I’d almost lost myself back there. I think the thing I’m most proud of is having resisted the ease and temptation of becoming an alcoholic. I’m in the clear now; there’s no more risk of that happening. It’s only been 2 days but it’s already evident that things are changing drastically, and for the better.

I’m ready for you, new city! Let’s do this.